Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Albert Park, 2023

Ferrari enjoy “most positive” Friday yet but don’t expect to challenge Red Bull

2023 Australian Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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Does Formula 1 really need three hours of unrestricted practice on a grand prix weekend?

In F1’s endless meandering between whatever contentious topic is currently dominating discussions in the media pen as well as backroom meetings in the paddock, it’s now the turn of Friday’s free practice sessions to come under scrutiny. Regardless of how traditionalists may feel, it seems the era of three unrestricted hours of running each race weekend may not be long for this world.

It’s ironic, then, that despite two sessions taking place around Albert Park on Friday, there is such little meaningful data to use to paint a true picture of how the rest of the Australian Grand Prix weekend is likely to play out. Through a tumultuous blend of a green track, GPS glitches causing traffic problems, plus red flag disruptions and rainfall, teams found themselves more unsure than usual about their performance after Friday’s practice day.

Fast and loose

But one conclusion that was neither a mystery nor a surprise was that Red Bull have serious pace, demonstrated by Max Verstappen recording the fastest time on Friday. His best lap of 1’18.790, achieved on soft tyres, not only topped the charts in the first practice session but also remained unmatched throughout the second. Fernando Alonso was closest behind, registering a time merely a tenth of a second slower in the second practice, albeit on the theoretically slower medium compound tyres.

As one of the fastest circuits on the calendar with equal emphasis on front tyre load in corners and traction out of the few slow corners, Melbourne should be well-suited to the RB19. Indeed, Verstappen and team mate Sergio Perez topped the speed trap through the day – by 6km/h over Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and almost 10km/h over Alonso’s Aston Martin.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Albert Park, 2023
Verstappen went quickest, but struggled with tyres
But despite going quickest, Verstappen looked the least comfortable in the car than he had been at any point in the early season – even spinning on the exit of turn four late in the opening hour. The early championship leader admitted he struggled to keep his tyres happy in the unusually cooler conditions.

“It was quite tough to switch the tyres on” he explained, “so that was difficult when you want to push immediately.

“There were also quite a few interruptions with the red flags, so we never really got into a rhythm. It was difficult to tell how the car felt as we never got a window where I thought we were on top of the tyres.”

It’s difficult to accurately assess how Perez compares. In the initial session, Perez primarily ran with the medium tyres, while in the 15 minutes before rainfall disrupted the second practice, he could not get a lap in without being frustrated by traffic which he later eloquently described as “a bit mental”.

“It felt like a lot of people still had issues with their GPS data…” he joked. “I think tomorrow there’s more or less plenty to do – too much to do in FP3. So I think we’re going to be somehow going a bit blind into the race, which should be interesting.”

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Who can catch Red Bull?

As is the pattern in 2023, Alonso and Aston Martin were closest to the Red Bulls on the times sheets as Friday drew to a close. As there is no real long run pace to compare them with, even comparing Alonso’s fastest lap to Verstappen’s overall best reveals little.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Albert Park, 2023
Leclerc declared Friday Ferrari’s best yet
Verstappen set his best lap of the day on the soft tyres, while Alonso’s second session best was set with mediums. Verstappen was also as far as six tenths faster than Alonso’s second practice benchmark through the first two sectors, but lost almost all of it through the final sector despite not encountering any traffic.

Alonso was also one of many drivers who dedicated a large part of the first session to running tests on upgrades, rather than dialling in their set ups for this weekend, leaving him none the wiser as to how he may compare to the Red Bulls.

“We concentrated on some test items that we wanted to tick the box,” he explained. “And then in FP2, it was just a 20 minute session only. So still some jobs to do tomorrow, especially on the tyres into the race, some long runs or something that we were obviously missing today. But so far I think the car seems to behave well.”

Ferrari may not have made headlines with their performance during the opening day of the weekend, but after a frustrating start to the season, Charles Leclerc came away saying his car felt better than at the opening two rounds.

“It’s probably our most positive FP2 of the season,” he said. “Which doesn’t mean much, but at least it’s a Friday that finishes on a positive note.”

But despite his satisfaction with the feeling of the SF23, his team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr was keeping modest expectations of the team’s chances of competing against Red Bull, Aston Martin and Mercedes over the rest of the weekend.

“I think it’s fair to assume that in quali we will play with them,” was Sainz’s assessment. “But then in the race we should assume also that we should be one step behind like we were in Jeddah.”

Lewis Hamilton was also keeping a realistic perspective of Mercedes’ chances despite a lack of representative running to directly compare them to their rivals.

“We won’t be competing against the Red Bulls,” Hamilton offered frankly. “I think we’ve got pace to be around fifth area – the same as the last race.”

Hamilton’s team mate George Russell concurred. “I’d say that’s a fair assessment,” he said. “I think if we really pull everything together, the third row – probably between P5 and P8 – I think is where we’re looking at the moment.”

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Tricky Tarmac and tight traffic

As expected, the Albert Park street circuit was extremely green as drivers took to it for the first time. Even the benefit of Formula 2 and FIA F3 here this weekend is unlikely to offer substantially more rubber on the public roads that make up the circuit – especially now that rain has washed away so much of what had built up on Thursday and Friday.

Carlos Sainz Jnr, Fernando Alonso, Albert Park, 2023
Traffic can be a factor around narrow Albert Park course
Heading into qualifying, with cooler temperatures expected again and a slight risk of more rain, there are two crucial factors that could define the critical hour-long session to decide the grid: traffic and tyre temperature.

Already drivers have been struggling to keep out of the way of their rivals around the circuit. But according to Russell, getting a lap spoiled may not necessarily be as much of a problem here as during a typical qualifying session, thanks to the type of asphalt – or ‘bitumen’, to use the local term – used on the roads.

“I don’t know if the fans watching know too much about it,” he said, “but the difference in Tarmacs from the different races we go to has a real substantial effect on the car and the feeling. Saudi and Melbourne have a similar Tarmac, so you can really push the tyres hard. And you’re seeing you’re able to do one, two, three laps on the soft tyre – which is unique in a way.”

That ability to push the soft tyres for multiple laps could even come into play during the race. After the C5 soft tyre was virtually ignored during last year’s race, this weekend has the C4 nominated as the softest compound, which may prove far more viable.

Heading into Saturday, there are more questions to be answered than usual after two hours of practice. But before teams commit to their set-ups for qualifying, they are set to get a solid hour of final preparation that will likely reveal far more about the true state of the order than is currently known. The question Formula 1 needs to ask itself is, does it want to head into more Saturdays in the future with this same level of uncertainty over how strong each of the ten teams are and, if so, will cutting down its current three hours of practice be the best way of achieving that?

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First and second practice times

PositionNumberDriverTeamFP1 timeFP2 timeGapLaps
11Max VerstappenRed Bull1’18.7901’19.50229
214Fernando AlonsoAston Martin-Mercedes1’19.3171’18.8870.09736
344Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’19.2231’20.3230.43337
411Sergio PerezRed Bull1’19.2931’20.0830.50334
516Charles LeclercFerrari1’19.3781’19.3320.54226
655Carlos Sainz JnrFerrari1’19.5051’19.6950.71532
74Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1’19.5361’20.1760.74636
810Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1’19.6461’20.2060.85634
963George RussellMercedes1’19.6991’19.6720.88243
1031Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1’20.1751’19.7250.93532
1118Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes1’19.7661’20.5790.97634
1223Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1’19.7661’21.1820.97639
1381Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1’19.7771’20.3800.98746
1427Nico HulkenbergHaas-Ferrari1’19.8061’20.1941.01638
1521Nyck de VriesAlphaTauri-Red Bull1’19.9331’20.6001.14333
162Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes1’20.074No time1.28421
1722Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Red Bull1’20.3991’20.2201.43032
1877Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’20.4191’20.3121.52243
1924Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’20.5691’20.4701.68044
2020Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’21.1471’21.2662.35735

Teams’ progress vs 2022

2023 Australian Grand Prix

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Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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